Harry Potter and a Rip Through Time
by Lord Blood
Summary: AU. Harry is 18, and he gets sent back in time to the time of the Marauders! HBP and DH never happened.
1. Chapter 1: The Final Battle

Harry Potter and a Rip Through Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Summary: AU. Harry is 18, and he gets sent back in time to the time of the Marauders! HBP and DH never happened.

Chapter 1: The Final Battle

A sad howl of a werewolf echoed throughout the vast plain somewhere near Hogwarts in Scotland. It was a sad howl indeed because the two major armies of the Wizarding world, the Dark army and the Light army were standing off face to face. Four years passed since Voldemort was resurrected in the graveyard in Little Hangleton. The people of the Light and the people of the Dark had come to a compromise. One final confrontation would end it all. Nothing was spared in preparation for this day. All forces had been called in for this single day.

The even that lead to this confrontation started in Harry's sixth year, where he was captured and tortured for a month by lowly Death Eaters as an initiation. When Voldemort arrived, Harry's shields were too low to do anything protect his mind. The prophecy, which stated that Harry and Voldemort were immortal to everyone and everything except each other, was stolen and Voldemort used this new information to go on reckless recruiting drives and a mass of raids.

The leader of the Light army, Albus Dumbledore, stood in a tent behind his army, where he was going over last minute plans. He rubbed his temples and sighed. Four long years since the Triwizard Tournament and it had resulted in this, he thought. To his right stood Harry Potter, the only one capable of defeating Voldemort, as stated in the prophecy. Next to Harry stood his two best friends Hermione Granger-Weasley and Ron Weasley, who marrried immediately after 7th year, and his fiancé Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister, who he proposed to on his graduation day. On their side stood the combined might of the Order of the Pheonix, which had at least tripled since Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and the Ministry of several countries in the world, namely: Britain, France, America, Germany, China, Japan, and a few minor countries. Also standing with them were the diminutive house elves, who freed themselves from the grasps of the wizards, and goblins, who did not appreciate their gold being stolen from them. Unfortunately, the centaurs chose not to participate in the battle.

On the side where the Dark army was presiding, their leader Voldemort stood at the back behind the rest of his army, also rubbing his temple. The last battle that would decide the outcome. He had spent years scouring the earth for dark rituals that would give him unlimited power and immortality. Several weeks ago, he had succeeded. Now the last remains of his humanity were gone. He was, truly, a monster. His three generals, Lucius Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew, and Bellatrix Lestrange, stood beside him. On Voldemort's side stood all thirteen clans of the Giants, numbering them to totals of over 300, seven packs of werewolves, who joined Voldemort for his promise of free meat, and the majority of the vampires.

The two sides were tense, waiting for something to happen. The clouds overhead began to gather, making the sky dark and gloomy. Several minutes later, the armies still tense, a lone thunderbolt struck the center of the battlefield and all hell broke loose. The two sides charged.

Green light, representing the Killing Curse, flew to and from both directions, snuffing out the lives of thousands. The giants swung their massive clubs and men from both sides went flying haphazardly in all directions. Werewolves leapt into the air and sunk their sharp canine teeth into the human flesh, tearing it out in a bloody mess while the savored the bloody taste. All around the battlefield people were dying, as if their lives were small candle lights that were blown out by a simple breath.

That was when Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Voldemort were put into a trance.

_The end is near, you three must fight,  
To finish this war this very night.  
Seek a lone cliff,  
But beware of the rift.  
For two of three shall move to the next plane,  
While the third shall correct the universe, right as rain.  
And when the world mends,  
This will be, when the prophecy ends._

Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort snapped out of it. Harry looked to Dumbledore, who nodded in a grim response.

They looked around, and saw to the east a giant cliff that loomed menacingly over the battlefield. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny looked on, confused. Harry shook his head, and just motioned to the cliff.

"That is where it will end," he said quietly. When he and Dumbledore made to leave, the three followed. Harry began to shake his head to deny them, but decided not to. They _are_ my best friends after all, he thought, not noticing the small nod Ron and Hermione shared.

The five set out towards the cliff after Dumbledore told his next-in-command, Minerva McGonagall, his long time supporter and friend, what was to happen. She only nodded with unshed tears in her eyes. With a quick prayer, she turned back to supervise the battle.

---

Voldemort was also looking at the cliff that Harry pointed out to his friends.

"It seems we will end this battle there," he told his generals.

"My lord," Bellatrix said in a tone of reverence, "allow us to come with you, so we may witness your greatest accomplishment."

Voldemort seemed to think this through for a few seconds before replying, "Very well."

The three strode out and headed towards the cliff.

---

Harry and co. were half way there when a giant lumbered into their view. It looked down and swung its club straight at Harry at a speed that was faster than should've been possible. It seemed Voldemort was playing God and messing with the different species on the planet.

Before anyone could move, Hermione pushed him out of the way, only to be struck in the back and the head. She was immediately dead.

Harry could only stand there in shock while Ron rushed towards her and howled his pain at the loss of his wife. He howled and howled as hot tears streamed down his face. Ginny also stood next to Harry, her wide brown eyes staring in disbelief, and her hand clasped tightly to Harry's.

After quickly decapitating the pitiful abomination with a powerful spell, Dumbledore laid a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder. "There will be time to mourn later Ronald. We must end this war as quickly as possible to save the lives of thousands."

Ron was no longer screaming, but his pain could still be seen by the shaking of his shoulders. He and Hermione had sworn an oath that they would do whatever was necessary to keep Harry alive several years before. Now, his wife had done what she believed was necessary and right, and he knew he would soon follow. A few minutes passed and he laid her head reverently down on the ground. He cast a stasis spell on her body so her body would remain fresh, relatively speaking. He stood up and buried her and quickly made a makeshift cross out of stone to mark her grave.

_A loving wife, a best friend, and a sister in all but blood,_

_Here lies Hermione Granger-Weasley,_

_May she rest in peace._

_1979-2007_

Ron wiped his face on his sleeve and spat in a voice laced with cold fury, "Let's go kill that fucker."

The four marched on and finally reached the cliff.

---

At the same time, Voldemort and his generals were headed off by a band of Aurors from diffferent countries. Voldemort whipped out his wand and quickly cast two Killing curses, ending the lives of two of them immediately.

Unfortunately, these Aurors were not afraid to use Killing Curses either, and several were shot at Voldemort, Lucius, Wormtail, and Bellatrix. Voldemort conjured a giant slab of marble and it exploded when the curse struck it. Peter changed to a rat and let the curse pass overhead before returning back to human form and shot several of his own Killing Curses at the Order members. Two more died. Lucius sidestepped the curse shot at him and returned fire. One more Auror dropped to the ground, his face blank of emotions.

The last curse that was shot was headed towards Bellatrix, who surprisingly, did nothing. Her time in Azkaban, coupled with constant bouts of the Cruciatus curse and other means of torture, delayed her reaction time drastically and caused her health to decrease, so she never recovered, despite the fact that she was still powerful enough to use the Unforgivables. The green light struck her at the heart and she flew back, her face twisted in surprise. As she fell, Voldemort waved his wand lazily and a blasting curse hit the last Auror in the head, which exploded in a shower of blood and brain.

Voldemort turned his attention to Bellatrix and transfigured her body into an obsidian star, and made it into a necklace. "In memory of my most loyal follower, you will watch my most wondrous accomplishment even from beyond." He put it on and turned back towards the cliff.

"Come, let us move onwards."

---

The two groups met on the cliff. Wands were instantly drawn and aimed at one another.

Ron immediately fired a heart-stopping curse at Peter and the two moved off to the side, dancing a duel of death.

"You sick bloody rat. You lived at my home for twelve whole years. Probably liked spying on young naked boys in the shower!" he panted as each shot deadly curses at the other. No longer was Peter the cowering simpleton. Instead, he was an accomplished dueler, on par with Snape or the elder Malfoy.

At the same time, Ginny brought out her hate for the blonde man in front of her.

"Because of you I had to suffer being possessed by the likes of _him!_" she screamed, jabbing a finger at Voldemort.

Without giving Lucius a chance to reply, she started throwing a barrage of curses, from entrail-expelling to decapitation curses.

Also at the same time, Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort stared each other down.

Voldemort smirked. "Hardly a fair fight. You two versus me. I would easily win," he said in what could almost pass as a Malfoy drawl.

Harry tensed, wanting to use his bare hands to rip this monstrosity apart, but held himself back. "You think you can win against us Tommy boy? Let's hear you say that when you find yourself looking at your spleen!" Harry ended his last statement with an entrail-expelling curse.

Voldemort sidestepped it and calmly replied, "_Flagrate_," his wand snapping forward and then pulled to the left. A large black flame spewed forth. It consumed the grass and plants in dark fire and hit two stones of marble, conjured by Harry and Dumbledore.

Both Harry and Dumbledore then unleashed a steady barrage of deadly curses. Voldemort retaliated in kind and soon spells of all colors flew back and forth.

Dumbledore, using his Masters-level transfiguration skills transfigured several clumps of blackened grass into living white tigers. The three tigers separated and ran straight to Voldemort, who lazily flicked his wand at the approaching felines and making them implode.

With his attention off of Harry for a split second, Voldemort did not see the dark red curse soaring at him.

_Wham!_ The curse slammed into Tom's right side and kicked him off his feet. The powerful _Bombarda_ curse was one not to be trifled with. With enough power, one could use the curse to make a hole large enough for a giant to fit through.

Unfortunately, the curse only gave Tom a small hole in his side, black blood streaming out of it in vast quantities.

'He does bleed!', the ironic thought crept into Harry's mind, and he banished the thought away so he could keep his concentration on his enemy in front of him.

Ignoring the wound, Tom jabbed his wand once more and spit out "_Flagrate_".As soon as the dark flames left his wand, he turned the wand towards himself in an attempt to do a quick patch-up. Dumbledore and Harry, both quite familiar with Tom's use of the spell, stepped to the left and right, respectively, of the flame and ran forward. Their wands produced a whole rainbow of colors that impacted Voldemort's shield and caused a loud, reverberating clang to resound.

"Enough," the Dark Lord growled. It was time to end the foolish brat (although he was now a man) and the senile old senior.

"_Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra_." The first two Killing Curses headed towards Harry's way and the third one towards Dumbledore.

_The future's up to you, Harry_. A voice he was so accustomed to rang through his head, and he slowly turned towards Dumbledore, whose face had a last sad smile. The green light smashed into Harry's mentor and the old man sailed backwards, landing in a heap ten feet away, his face still carrying that small smile.

That was when Harry remembered two Killing Curses were aimed at him! When he turned his head back towards Voldemort, he saw a giant slab of marble in front of him. It seems that Dumbledore sacrificed himself to protect Harry from the two deadly curses. The slab of marble was mostly demolished and fell apart within a few seconds. Voldemort stood triumphantly in front of Harry, and the other battles stopped as well to hear the crowning achievement of this cruel monster.

"Dumbledore has fallen! I am the strongest wizard alive!" he crowed victoriously, disregarding Harry as merely a stronger-than-normal wizard who was way below the esteemed old man and extremely lucky.

Harry and his two remaining friends were shocked. The leader of the Light, Dumbledore, dead?

The anger inside Harry boiled to a point where he could no longer take it. He forced his feelings of pain, loss, grief, and agony into his spells, and their destructive capabilities multiplied tenfold.

Reverting back to basic spells, the angered young man screamed out a Reductor curse and the shield Voldemort threw up was blasted apart like a cannon against paper.

Two piercing screams brought his attention back to his surroundings. Malfoy and Wormtail were putting Ginny and Ron under the Cruciatus curse!

Harry immediately turned his body to help his two fallen friends when Voldemort hit him with a Crucio of his own. His knees buckled, but he grit his teeth to fight through the pain. His steps towards his best friend and fiancé slowed and then finally stopped altogether. His eyes were still open though, and when he moved to get back up, Voldemort placed a simple Incarcerous hex on him, tying him up and rendering him useless.

"Watch, as the last of your friends perish!" he grinned triumphantly. One green light emerged from the tip of the wand of Voldemort and flew towards Ginny. Her eyes were locked on Harry's, and she whispered a silent "I'm sorry." The curse struck her and her head fell limp, her once warm eyes now devoid of life.

"NOOOOOOO!" His anger started to rise again, and the ropes binding him began to crumble. Another minute and he would be free.

"Now say goodbye to the other Weasley!"

When Ron locked eyes with Harry, he mouthed "Use the curse!" The green light swept over him, and he too, lost the life in his eyes.

The deaths of his last remaining friend and his wife-to-be cause him to lose it. The ropes burst apart and Harry got to his feet.

'Pain of Loss. I promised myself I wouldn't use it, because it would mean all of my friends are dead. But now...now...I have now choice.'

---

Flashback

"C'mon Harry, please. Just think about it!" Hermione's insistent begging got louder and louder.

"No! I refuse to use it. Just no!"

Hermione had been researching ways to help Harry defeat Voldemort, when she found a curse that was long forgotten deep in a massive tome that was also forgotten. It seems the Potter vault held quite a lot of "forgotten" items.

The curse was designed so that when all of one's closest friends and family were all dead due to the results of a person, he could use the Pain of Loss curse. All it required was that the user focus feelings of pain, loss, grief, and agony towards the one who caused it. If the one who caused the deaths did not feel true remorse, the curse would tear the person apart. Not only would the body be destroyed, but the soul too. Once the curse was unleashed the caster would probably be out for several days with an extreme case of magical exhaustion The problem Harry had with this curse was that in order use this curse, it would mean that Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were dead, since everyone else he could possibly call close was killed.

"Harry, if it comes down to you and Tom, you _must_ use it. It'll help you win, and you could count on it as a last defense!"

"No, no, no, and NO!" he stubbornly refused.

Weeks of her begging eventually wore him down.

"Fine. But only as an ace in the sleeve. Promise me that you won't go getting yourself killed so I can use this curse, ok 'Mione?"

"Yes, yes," she replied waving off his concerns, while her mind was racing in order to find a suitable way to tell this new plan to Ron.

Another week passed until Ron finally learned about it.

"I will NOT let you get yourself killed, 'Mione!" he yelled.

"You don't get it," she replied, "it has to be all of us in order for the curse to work."

"Huh?'

After explaining the curse to Ron, he too, shook his head in agreement. "We must do whatever we can to keep Harry alive. If one of must die, then so be it. I would gladly give up my life to save Harry's!" Hermione's head bobbed up and down in fervent agreement. "Now let's go get something to eat! I'm starving!"

---

Harry's eyes burst open, and his blazing emerald green pupils showed all the emotions necessary to fuel the Pain of Loss curse: loss, grief, agony, and even longing.

Channeling all of his power and his emotion into his hands, he let loose two simple words. "Morsus Perditio!" His finger, which was pointed at Voldemort, let loose a giant blast of gray energy. Voldemort's face took on an expression of abject horror, as it seems he recognized the curse for what it was.

Tom let loose an ear-piercing shriek of pain as the curse tore him apart, so that his body was in pieces. The remaining Death Eaters felt the death of their lord, and they too, felt the pain he felt. Unfortunately for them, this meant that they died in the same way Tom did: in a massive explosion of blood and guts.

When Harry's head stopped spinning from the release of so much magic, he saw a large glowing rip where Tom's body stood before. The hole got larger and larger until it suddenly stopped.

_"...beware of the rift...correct the universe..." _These thoughts ran through Harry's head. It couldn't be could it? The new "prophecy" that the three heard was referring to the survivor being sent to another universe! Oh no! And that's when Harry James Potter's world went black.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Era

Chapter 2: A New Era

"It seems he is suffering from a massive case of magical exhaustion. I've never seen anything like it!"

"We need to call in some of the specialists for this job! I think Professor Dumbledore would also be interested in this one. This kid's magical reserves are humongous, and he still managed to deplete it."

A door opened with a bang. Footsteps. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please don't worry. I'll be sure that Poppy takes good care of this young man. Have a nice day you two." The third voice ushered the first two away somewhere.

"Of course, Professor. Have a nice day." A whoosh of Floo powder signaled the departure of the first two voices.

Those voices Harry did not recognize, but from the way they were talking about him, he guessed they were Healers. The third voice sounded so familiar. He felt that he should've known that voice, but he just couldn't remember it...

_Dumbledore!_ That third voice was Dumbledore! It couldn't be! He's dead!

Harry's eyes burst open and he leapt out of bed, wand summoned from the table beside the bed into his hand.

His eyes were focused on his mentor and his mentor's eyes were focused on him.

"Well, hello young man. That was some impressive magic there. What's your name?"

The question caught him off guard. His mind worked furiously to remember the last few memories he had, which was of the battle...the rift! That's it! The rift took him somewhere, and it seems that the line from the prophecy, "correct the universe", meant to help a different universe to defeat Voldemort!

"What's the date?" Harry demanded.

"Why, I believe today is the 21st. "

"The month?"

"August, last time I checked," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling the same as always.

"And the year?" Harry was most anxious to find out the year.

"1978. Do you have memory loss, my boy?"

"No, I guess I just forgot the date..." Harry trailed off, as he realized his excuse was pathetic. His thinking went back to the prophecy. If he was to be deposited into a different universe, shouldn't the date be around the same as the time he left? Perhaps it isn't a different universe, but a different timeline...Yes that's it, Harry mused.

An uncomfortable (for Harry at least) silence ensued. "May I ask your name, sir?"

"My name is Harry Pot-" Harry stopped and covered his pause with a cough. He couldn't say Harry Potter, because he didn't exist yet! "My name is Harry Porter."

As soon as he finished speaking, what Dumbledore said a few moments ago burst back into his head. '1978! That's my mum and dad's last year at Hogwarts!'

"Are we at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes we are, Harry. May I ask how you knew my name? I'm pretty sure I didn't introduce myself."

"Well surely you don't think a man of your stature would remain unknown, do you?" Harry replied with a smile on his face.

The old professor returned the smile and stared into Harry's eyes. Harry felt a small brush on his mental shields and immediately brought them up to full power.

"An Occlumens. How impressive. Who taught you?"

"I taught myself, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to read my mind."

"Sorry. In times as dangerous as this, it is a necessary caution to determine who is friend and who is foe."

"There's no need to worry. I am a friend," Harry said.

"Do you mind if I ask how you managed to use up so much magic? You were out for nearly three days."

The first thing that came to Harry's mind was to tell the truth. but then he decided it was better if he played dumb. "Sorry, but I really have no idea."

"Hmmm...very well. Another thing to look into. How old are you Harry? You look like a seventh year, but I have never seen you before, and I take pride in knowing my students. And you look a lot like James Potter. Would you happen to be related to him?"

Harry really wanted to meet his parents and the Marauders, and he knew Dumbledore would invite him to Hogwarts if he told the aging professor that he was 17, while in fact he was 18. If he said 18, there was no way he was going to have a chance to meet his future parents.. "I'm 17, and I'm not related to this James Potter, sorry."

Dumbledore continued the questioning. "Where do you go to school then?"

Pretending to be nervous, he replied, "I was tutored by several different teachers, and I live with my muggle relatives who hate magic, since my parents were killed when I was 1..."

"That's terrible. My condolences. Perhaps you should come to Hogwarts, where you can procure a wonderful education," Dumbledore suggested.

"Sorry sir, but I don't have any money left to pay for tuition..."

"Not a problem Harry. There is a fund for students who cannot pay for tuition. I'll apply you as a student, and you'll have to get sorted later."

_The Sorting Hat!_ It could read minds, right? Harry's mind sped as he thought of ways he could avoid putting the hat on, but unfortunately, none came.

"Now, why don't you go off and explore the castle a bit before it is time for dinner, which will be held in the Great Hall? I'm sure it will be a good idea for you to get acquainted with the school, or else you'd be lost like a first year. If you need help finding your way, just call for a house-elf," the old Headmaster claimed with a twinkle in his eyes.

Quite frankly, Harry was pleased with this dismissal, since he would have time to reminisce about the great times he had in this castle before it was overrun by Voldemort's Death Eaters. He slowly limped his way out, since he was still a bit exhausted from his major magical exhaustion. He was refilling quickly, but he still needed another day before he was fine.

Neither saw the smirks that adorned the other's face as Harry left.

---

Dumbledore was having a great day, even though the past week wasn't so good, despite the fact that his current position in his office lead people to believe that he was tired, with his fingers pressed against his forehead and his eyes cast downwards.

First, the bumbling Minister Fudge passed a law that allowed Dumbledore almost free reign of the Ministry, since "such a venerable hero of the Wizarding World would be able to contribute" to fight the menace that was his old student, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Second, his Order of the Phoenix group were successfully taking out said menace's lackeys, the Death Eaters. And finally, a powerful new pawn had come into play, perfect for Albus to mold and use. His wandless powers and the depth of his magical exhaustion which showed had large his magical core was, coupled with his amazing regeneration rate and simple naivety would make him the perfect fighting machine. It would only take some time to completely mold him into Albus' pawn, and then the boy would eventually be disposed of, so that the "great hero Dumbledore" could claim the credit of defeating this newest Dark Lord.

---

Harry strolled around Hogwarts a bit, visiting the Gryffindor common room (it was summer, so no passwords were necessary), the Great Hall, the Quidditch stadium, the locker rooms, even some of his favorite broom cupboards! He was so lost in thinking that he didn't realize he had bumped into someone until his arse was on the ground, and papers were fluttering about everywhere near him.

"Oh shit, sorry!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet to help whoever he knocked down.

His breath was literally taken away as a beautiful, petite redhead with amazing emerald green eyes came into view._ Mum!_

"James Harold Potter! Watch where you're going you clumsy foo-" the redhead yelled before coming to an abrupt stop. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I thought you were someone else."

"It's no problem. Sorry for bumping into you. The name's Harry Porter." He held out a hand to the redhead in front of him who would later end up married to James Potter.

"Lily Evans," she replied, after shaking his hand. "Hey, what House are you in? I'm a seventh year Gryffindor, and I've never seen you around."

"I'm a new student, and I'm gonna join your year. Haven't gotten sorted yet though."

She bent down to pick up her books, when she noticed that he was still standing and he was watching her. _Hmph, you'd think he'd help me pick up my books after he bumped into me,_ she huffed irritably, and was about to tell him so when he interrupted her.

"You do know there is a little something called magic right?" he said with a wave of his hand, which caused the books and various papers to go flying back into her hands.

She was too stunned by his casual use of wandless magic to be embarrassed about forgetting about to use magic to clean up the mess.

"You know how to do magic without a wand? Where'd you learn it? Was it hard? Can you teach me?" she asked in quick succession with a squeal while bouncing up and down with joy.

_Up, down, up, down...Stop! You sick bastard, that's your mother!_

_But she's younger than me!_

_So? She's still your damn mother, you sick pervert! _

Shaking his head to clear his mind of his internal argument, he replied with a casual "Maybe."

Finally stopping her bouncing, Lily regained her wits enough to ask a question. "Hey, since when did we have transfer students?"

"I'm not a transfer student," he replied, "I've just been tutored privately and this is my first year to go public." His heart was hurting with such a use of a blatant lie to his future mother. "Hey, wait a second," he blurted out without a thought, "why are you here at Hogwarts? It's summer, so shouldn't you be at home or something?"

"Nah," she responded, waving his concern off. "Didn't you know that students who wish to are allowed to stay over the summer, even though most choose to go home?"

"Nope, never knew about that one," he said, stunned by the implications, since it meant that he could have stayed here at Hogwarts and never would've had to go back to the Dursleys' back in his own time.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he asked if Lily would mind showing him around, since he wanted to spend some time with who would later become his mother.

"Sure," she answered brightly. They started their tour with a trek to the Gryffindor common room.

On the way, Lily told Harry all about her life and friends.

"I'm a muggleborn, and I lived with my parents until I got my Hogwarts letter. When my sister found out that I was a witch, she turned from a loving big sister to a hateful bully. My parents, of course, never knew about what the things she said to me, but it hurt a lot...Anyway, on my first day, I met my two best friends Alice Dorea and Angelina Black. Alice is dating Frank Longbottom right now, and Angelina is single."

'Black?' Harry thought. He would have to find out her relation to Sirius later.

She continued on. "I also met four boys who later became the Marauders. They're just a group of bullies who like to play pranks on people, especially Slytherins. James Potter and Sirius Black are the two more popular members, and they're extremely immature. Peter Pettigrew is a snivelling little boy who happens to worship Potter and Black, and the last member, Remus Lupin, is the normally-level-headed member of the group. He's also the only smart one. Oh yes, before I forget, what classes do you plan on taking this year? If you were tutored, you probably didn't get a chance to take your OWLs and..." Lily stopped, realizing that she was blabbering.

Harry, amused by her sudden change of subject, replied, "Don't worry, I already took the OWLs, and I got an O on the four core subjects (DADA, Potions, Charms, and Transfigurations) and O's on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, so I'll be taking the NEWTs for those classes." Of course, Harry only started Arithmancy and Ancients Runes in his sixth year in the future and he was tutored by Dumbledore. He got to take the OWLs for those two classes later on, and the grades were at least true. Yes, even Potions.

Lily let loose a squeak. "NEWTs! I forgot! Oh Merlin, what am I gonna do, I gotta study, oh no, oh no..." She was blabbering and had to slap a hand on her mouth to stop talking._ She's just like Hermione_, Harry mused, and the thought of one of his two dead best friends brought tears to his eyes,

Lily, not noticing the tears, continued on. "Sorry, but I kinda got carried away for a second..."

"You sure you're not a Ravenclaw?" Harry asked with a smirk, the previous tears wiped from his eyes before Lily could notice.

She scowled at him before she asked about his life. In response, he told her about how a Dark Wizard killed his parents and he was left with his Muggle relatives, who hated all things magical. He told her about how his uncle thought that beating him would get the freakiness out of him, and his many uses of accidental magic on his horrible relatives. The story brought tears to Lily's eyes, but Harry continued on. He also told her about how his Godfather was also killed by one of the Dark Wizard's followers, and she was reduced to sobbing for how bad his life was. He concluded his story by telling her about how he got tutored after receiving the inheritance his parents left him, and what his training entailed. That impressed her greatly.

Ten minutes later, they reached the Gryffindor common room and the pair entered. The room was exactly how he remembered it; decorated in red and gold, with a small fire lit in the fireplace. The place was very homey, and contained many comfortable couches and only two tables for work to be done. There were two marble staircases, each leading to the guys' dorm and girls' dorm. Lily pointed to the girls' staircase, and told Harry that her room was up that way. She also explained how guys were not allowed up the girls' dorm, in any house. Lily used an example of James and Sirius attempting to sneak up in their first year. She was laughing too hard to properly explain what happened._ Another thing to find out about later,_ Harry thought.

The two left the common room and decided to visit the other three. The Ravenclaw common room was exactly what Harry imagined it to be. Basically, a library. Not as extensive as the school library, but a library nonetheless. The Hufflepuff was more homey than the Ravenclaw common room, but not as warm and comforting as the Gryffindor one. Finally, Lily reluctantly led Harry to the Slytherin common room. It was the same as when Harry visited in his second year: cold, dull, and bleak. Like Azkaban, Harry thought, without the Dementors.

On their way to dinner at the Great Hall, Harry asked a question that was bothering him for some time. "How come we didn't run into anyone else?"

"It _is_ summer vacation, silly. Besides me, only Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew are still here," Lily responded.

"Did someone call our name?" a voice yelled out from behind them.

Harry turned around at the yell, and there, in front of him, stood the three people he never expected to see again. His father James Potter, his godfather Sirius Black, and his second godfather Remus Lupin.


	3. Chapter 3: The Marauders

Chapter 3: The Marauders

Harry knew that he'd eventually end up meeting the three most important male figures in his life again, but he never expected it to be so soon! And to see the three of them (and Peter, who was trailing behind them) so young and full of joy almost brought tears to his eyes.

"Potter!" Lily's beautiful face turned into a fierce scowl. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, my dear Lily, we were bored, so we decided to seek your company and we find you here betraying our trust by hanging onto a new stud? Oh how you broke our hearts," a young man with messy jet-black hair said with a grin. "No offense," he added hastily to Harry.

Harry, in turn, did nothing but raise his eyebrows.

"Hey James, I never knew you swung that way," Sirius commented.

James quickly spun around and whacked Sirius in the head.

"Owwwww," Sirius whined while rubbing his abused head.

Turning back to Lily and the new kid, James introduced himself, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

Remus, whose nose was currently buried in a book, lifted his head up to nod at the new kid when he actually got a good glimpse of him. His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out.

"James..." he said slowly, "Do you have a twin or something? 'Cause this guy looks just like you!" the werewolf exclaimed while looking back and forth between James and the newcomer.

James took another quick look before he, too, realized this fact. He was just about to say something when Harry interrupted.

"My name is Harry Porter. This is my first time in a public school, and I came here early to get sorted and get myself acquainted with the castle."

"Right," James said slowly. "That still doesn't explain how you look like me..."

Harry's response was a shrug. "Bad luck maybe?"

"Yeah," James replied. "Hey!"

Harry smiled and Sirius laughed out loud at the subtle insult.

"So what House are you four in?"

The quick change in subject did not bother them, and they informed Harry that all four were in Gryffindor with Lily (much to her displeasure).

The group entered the Great Hall and ate dinner as they each explained the basics of Hogwarts: which kids to avoid, which teachers to avoid, a few secret passageways, which teachers should be fired, and a quick introduction to the four houses (most of which Harry already knew).

Dumbledore strolled in a few minutes later with the Sorting Hat in his hands. He walked right up to Harry and tapped his shoulder.

Harry, who had been living in a time of war, spun around quickly with his wand in hand pointed at the aged professor. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, while the other five students stared at the speed at which he drew his wand.

"Not a problem," the Headmaster replied and pointed at the hat. "If you would put this on, Mr. Porter."

Harry slowly took the Hat and put it on. There was nothing he could do to stop the Hat from reading his mind and telling Dumbledore, but if it did happen, Harry was ready to blow the Hat up and call it an accident.

"Well what have we here? You've already been sorted, Mr. Potter. Hmm...I see, come back to the past eh? Yes, yes...Oh there's no need to worry. I'm not allowed to reveal what I see when I look through people's mind. I can also see that you have enough traits to be in all four houses. A complicated decision indeed. I stand by my original thought of Slytherin."

'Can you put me back in Gryffindor? I really want to get to know my parents this time around, and I really don't like Slytherin. If you put me in that foul place anyway, I'll blast you into tiny pieces.'

"So confident of our powers, are we, Mr. Potter? Yes very well, to Gryffindor then."

"To Gryffindor!" the hat exclaimed, although not in the grand tone as it usually during every sorting.

Lily clapped and squealed with delight. She rushed over to Harry and hugged him tight, making him blush. 'So this is what a mother's hug feels like,' he mused to himself.

"Back to the common room!" Sirius declared after the festivities were over.

The five boys and one girl slowly walked back to the common room while Harry got to know them better. He didn't volunteer any of his past, mainly because he had didn't want everyone to know how bad his life sucked, even though he already told Lily. There was just something about Lily that made him open up...

Harry's deep-seated hatred of Peter was pushed to the back of his mind as he got to know Remus and Sirius all over again, while learning new things about James and Lily.

He found that although Peter was a snivelling little bastard who sold out his parents, the young boy before him had not changed loyalties yet.

Once in the common room, the six headed towards the fireplace where they sat down and dealt out a deck of Exploding Snap cards. Harry used seemingly menial comments like "I wonder how the war's going" to see if they had joined the Order yet. Apparently, they did, since all of them tensed when he mentioned the war, but their eyes stated that they hadn't seen a real battle yet. Harry knew from experience that once you get a taste of war, your innocence will be forever gone, and these teenagers in front of him still had not lost something so precious.

He was glad for them. Honestly. Just because he had to live through a war and see his friends get killed,and then get sent back in time to witness (and more than likely participate) in a second war didn't mean they had to bear his misfortunes.

An hour later of exploding cards, the group went to bed, with Harry following the Marauders, and Lily going up the girls' dorm.

* * *

The next day dawned bright and early. Harry was down at five, since he was used to minimal amounts of sleep. His nightmares were a thing of the past (no pun intended) though. It seemed that even though he slept peacefully, he would always wake up very early in the morning. He used the time to exercise outside, with a few laps around the lake. He came back in thirty minutes later to find a red-haired beauty on the couch, facing the window. His first thought was of Ginny, but with a pang of guilt, realized that she was killed and he was alive. 

Lily turned around at the sound of the portrait opening and saw a very sweaty Harry Porter. She felt very attracted to both him and James. Well, they _did_ look alike. But the thing was, both of their personalities appealed to her. James with his playful and warm countenance, and Harry with his cool and aloof appearance.

"Like what you see?" Harry asked, amused, despite the fact that this was _HIS MOTHER_ that was ogling him.

Lily blushed, as she hadn't realized she was staring while thinking of the two people she felt an attraction towards. "I saw you running out there," she said, desperate to change the subject while pointing vaguely out the window.

"Yes, it's called 'running'. It's apparently a foreign concept to wizards. You know, 'staying in shape'?"

Lily blushed again, and was saved from replying by the stumbling of one Sirius Black. "Oy, what are you two doing up so early, ya bloody morning people?" he asked grumpily.

Another interruption followed in the form of the arrival of the remaining Marauders. All four Marauders looked shaggy and ruffled, like they just woke up, which is probably exactly what happened.

As the sextet traveled together down to the Great Hall for breakfast, they happened upon Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Head of Gryffindor.

"Minnie, my favorite teacher! How are you doing?" Sirius called out loudly.

McGonagall turned around and glared at Sirius. "Just because we are not in session now does not mean you can address me how you like, Mr. Black!"

"Of course! Please accept my most sincere apologies, Minnie!" Sirius proclaimed while he bowed.

Minerva looked at him disapprovingly and turned around, off to the Great Hall. The sextet hurried to catch up.

When they made it to the Great Hall, the other Professors were already sitting at the Head Table, going over their curriculum for the upcoming school year.

The group sat down at the Gryffindor table and a lavish meal appeared before their eyes.

The rest of the day was spent fooling around outside.

The following week and a half passed in a similar manner, with Harry getting up early, meeting Lily in the common room, waiting for the four Marauders, coming down to breakfast, fooling around outside, lunch, outside again, dinner, Exploding Snap and Chess in the common room, and then sleep. Harry grew closer to Lily and the Marauders too. They even considered asking Harry to be the fifth Marauder.

September first arrived, and soon everyone was in the Great Hall, waiting for the first years to be sorted while catching up with friends they hadn't seen over the summer. When the sorting was done, Dumbledore stepped up to deliver one of his usual speeches. After the speech was concluded, the students were ready to dig in to their meals, but Dumbledore had one last announcement.

"To some extenuating circumstances, we have a new student. His name is Harry Porter, and he's been sorted into Gryffindor. I hope all of you will welcome him to out school! Now, let the feast begin!"

As the students ate, some would come up to Harry and introduce themselves. Three such people were Alice Dorea and Frank Longbottom, who were holding hands and basically attached to the other at the lips, while the third was a beautiful young lady named Angelina Black.

As they introduced themselves, Harry remembered his self-memo. "Hey Angelina, are you related to Sirius?"

"Yeah I'm his cousin. His father is my dad's brother."

The feast was quickly finished, and many students leaned back while rubbing their protruding stomachs. Sirius and James especially. Lily and Angelina were about to smack the two boys when Dumbledore stood up again.

"I have one last announcement to make. We will be holding a special Yule Ball and a Valentine's Ball, the first on December 25, and the second on February 14. The special twist is this: the girls will have to ask the guys to the Yule Ball, but the guys have to ask the girls to the Valentine's Ball!"

At first the guys were crestfallen. Another dance? Oh boy, now they'd have to ask some girls to go with them, and that was always a scary deal. But when Dumbledore mentioned the special twist, they all perked up. The guys were huddled together, discussing which guy was going to get asked by which girl. All the boys were ignoring the fact that they had to ask girls for the second ball. After all, don't all boys tend to procrastinate?

Harry kept one ear on the boys' conversation as his trained eyes swept the room. He saw many familiar faces, most as enemies: Lucius Malfoy; Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange; Severus Snape; Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black; two brutes he recognized as Crabbe and Goyle Sr.; Thomas Avery; Theodore Nott Sr.

Each face (except for Andromeda; she's the only good one) brought a bout of anger, and his newfound friends could almost see the aura brought about by his increasing ire.

"Harry?" Lily asked tentatively. "Are you ok?"

Harry brought his anger down as he focused on his mother's words. "Don't worry," he replied. "I'll be fine."

The rest of the group just nodded and looked back at Dumbledore.

"And now," he proclaimed, "let us head back to our dorms to get a good night's sleep. Prefects, if you will?"

The prefects got up and led everyone else back to their respective dorms.

The first week of school was relatively boring. But in the second week, the Marauders struck.

The morning of the 9th, the students of Hogwarts arrived at the Great Hall to find most of the upper-year Slytherins tied up, colored pink, hanging from the ceiling, and wearing nothing but their boxers (no girls were up there, unfortunately). The laughter went on for ten whole minutes before the prank was reversed. The angry Slytherins stalked off towards the dungeons to dress for breakfast.

When Harry sat down at the table with the Marauders and Lily, he asked, "That your work?"

Sirius, who still had tears running down his face, nodded in confirmation.

September passed by quickly, followed by October. On the last day of October, Harry was nervous. Throughout the school year, there were only a few minor attacks on Muggle villages. Voldemort was a creature of habit, though, and Halloween has always been a disaster every year back in his own time, so why should it be any different here? Harry's entire body was tensed as he got ready in case any of those future Death Eaters decided to reveal their allegiances.

Alas, Harry was right. There was a disaster. A big one.

Professor McGonagall burst into the Great Hall. "Albus! We're under attack!"

A/N: For some reason, I see a lot of authors using Mundane instead of Muggle. Anyone know why?

I decided to finish this chapter today as it is almost Christmas time. If it wasn't I might have been working on my other two stories instead, since I like what is gonna be done to those two rather than this one. But never fear, I won't abandon this. I'll come back to this story after a few more chapters for the Ladies of Black. (After rereading my author's note, I just realized it was pretty dumb to make you wait for a battle, but...ah well.)

Happy holidays everyone!


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